• comparisons informed challenges about what services to provide, who to provide them to, how much they should cost, and whether the current provider of the service is the best one
• it has considered whether the service could better be provided by others
• it has demonstrated why the service is most suitable for provision by public, private or voluntary sectors, and has carried out a thorough options appraisal of different procurement methods ranging from development of a mixed economy or joint ventures to competitive tendering
• its assessment of procurement options has critically reviewed the best way to achieve the improvements
• the authority has demonstrated that the service is cost effective, either by subjecting the service to external competition, or by making sound comparisons which provide evidence that the service is delivering value for money
• the authority can show that it took effective action to develop the market for the provision of services where the existing market is weak or under-developed

Source: Audit Commission, Seeing is Believing, 2000 (extract)